


Light of the Seven

by soaringswallow



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Magic, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Gen, M/M, Secret Identity Romance, buckle up folks this is gonna be a long one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2018-01-16
Packaged: 2019-02-13 15:10:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12986706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soaringswallow/pseuds/soaringswallow
Summary: Taako just wants to continue his life as always. Famous ex tv-host by day, superhero with rad powers by night.Apparently that was too much to ask. Because there's a new hero in town, a wild card with weirdly cold skin who calls himself the Reaper.And then there's also Taako's incredibly hot new neighbor Kravitz, who makes him blush and stumble over his words like a teenager.Beyond his own messes though, there is something going on in the city of Neverwinter that will need all its eight superheroes' attention if they want to protect their home and the people they've made their family.





	1. A meeting on a rooftop

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to what will possibly turn out to be my biggest project so far!  
> I've been working on this for a while, the resolution was not to post anything until I passed the 10k mark, which I did yesterday.  
> I'm in love with this story I want to tell you, and I hope you'll end up feeling the same way about it.  
> There is a lot of setting up in the first couple chapters, but this work will definitely have over 50k words (if I go on like this more like 80-100) so I hope it makes sense in proportion to the overall length of the fic.  
> I'm gonna stop overthinking now and let you enjoy this (very short) first chapter.

Taako was sitting on the edge of a roof, dangling his feet as he overlooked the city. Cars were passing on the street below him, but this high up he could barely hear the noise. That was why he liked it. Just him and the lights of the city.

Well, until someone cleared their throat behind him rather loudly.  
Taako flinched and jumped to his feet. He’d been so deep in thought that he hadn’t heard someone approaching him.

“Dude, go get your own roof! You almost made me fall off!”  
He wouldn’t have hurt himself, of course, but his heart was still beating hard in his chest as he eyed the stranger.  
He was wearing an all black ensemble, a cloak covered in what looked like raven feathers with a matching mask. Even underneath it, Taako could make out a strong jawline and an amused glimmer in his eyes. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m still unused to my movements being this quiet.” And okay, what kind of accent even was that? Taako nearly laughed.

“You didn’t scare me. I was just startled, that’s all. I don’t get scared.”

The stranger smiled. “Of course you don’t.”

Taako brushed off his clothes and sighed. “Look, I appreciate the whole… all black getup, very nice if you’re going for vampire chic, but I’ve had a super long night stopping robberies and shit and I don’t really feel up for fighting a supervillain.”

The stranger frowned, looking down at himself. “Huh.” 

Taako arched a brow, though he knew it wasn’t visible under the velvet mask covering his eyes. “Huh?”

After another few seconds of looking over his own outfit, the stranger chuckled. “I see where that misconception came from. I’m not a ‘supervillain’. I try to do good just like you, Wizard.”

Taako eyed him for a moment, then snorted. “Yeah, next time wear some happier colors, homie.”

The stranger smiled back at him now. “I’ll keep that in mind. Though I must admit I was going for a sort of aesthetic here.”

That was something Taako could get behind, at least. “You worship the Raven Queen, huh?”

There was a slight ruffle of feathers as the stranger tugged at his coat. “That obvious?”

Taako laughed. “Yeah. So, what’s your name, thug? What do you go by? Raven? Birdie?”

“Reaper,” the stranger answered and Taako bit his lip to keep from laughing even more.

“And you were surprised I thought you were a bad guy.”

Reaper grinned. “It’s not my fault my goddess chose these colors. You don’t tell the Peacemaker to not wear flowers, do you?”

Taako rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but flowers don’t look evil.”

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and frowned. Davenport, probably. His shift had been over twenty minutes ago and Dav always wanted a report, no matter how short. This time it wouldn’t be. Because Reaper… well, he was quite something. Maybe he was just some follower of the Raven Queen who wanted to go vigilante. That would mean the others would want to stop him before he got himself hurt.

Taako looked him over again. Yeah, it would be a shame if he went and got himself killed.  
“I gotta go,” he said, “See ya around?” 

Reaper bowed his head slightly. “I’ll see you.” He turned around, his cloak swishing behind him, a sound like fabric ripping… and then he was… just gone.

Taako gaped. 

That… that was not what he’d expected.

Normal people wanting to play superheroes, following their example, sure, he'd seen enough of that, but… _where the hell did this guy’s powers come from?_


	2. New Neighbor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented, I'm super glad you guys are looking forward to where this story is gonna go as much as I am!
> 
> This chapter, Taako is Very Gay.

Davenport was already pacing impatiently when Taako walked in.   
Alright, maybe he shouldn’t have wasted so much time dramatically gazing at the lights of the city below him.   
Or talking to the gothiest superhero in the world. 

Anyway, it wasn't like Davenport wasn't used to them being late. The only one always punctual was Lucretia, and she rarely worked out in the field.

“Mornin’, Capnport,” he said easily as he took off his pointed wizard’s hat - the most important part of his superhero costume - and the purple velvet mask. He fanned himself a little, sighing happily at the feeling of cool air on his face.

“You’re later than usual,” Davenport noted.   
There were no windows in their secret underground lair, but if there were they would be able to see the sun come up right about now.

“I met a guy,” Taako said nonchalantly, sitting down in the chair in front of Davenport’s desk and propping up his feet.

Davenport looked surprised.   
Normally Taako never stayed long enough for his briefings to make himself comfortable. His average time was probably somewhere between twenty and forty seconds.

“You were flirting on the job?” he asked, disapproving tone so clearly fake that Taako snorted.   
Pretty much all of them flirted on the job. Magnus was the only real exception, but that was only because he was very happily married and kept his home life separate.   
Not like Lup and Barry, being all gross and couple-y while fighting crime. Even Lucretia could be found blushing and talking in hushed tones with pretty girls they saved. It was almost standard protocol.

Taako settling down in Davenport’s office, or any office, really, not that much.

“Nah, couldn’t see his face enough to tell if he was worth it.”   
Taako pulled a small bottle of lavender water out of his pocket and sprayed his face with it.   
Ah, _much better_. Mask sweat was the worst thing about the whole superhero gig.   
“He was wearing like a raven mask. With feathers and shit. Cloak, too. Calls himself Reaper.”

Davenport returned to his seat, now way more interested than before. “Another wannabe superhero?”

They’d had a couple of those.   
For example, the Raven and the Ram, only a few months ago, had been trying to do good in the city, and almost died in the process.   
Merle’s healing abilities were the only reason they were still alive.

They’d convinced the two to stop trying to be superheroes and instead they’d become two of their most valuable contacts - Hurley with the police, Sloane in some...shadier places.

It would be so much easier if Reaper was like them.

“Not… quite.” Taako thought of his mysterious new acquaintance disappearing in a flurry of feathers again. “He has powers.”

Davenport sat up ramrod straight at that, staring at Taako with wide eyes. “That’s not possible.”

It wasn’t. It definitely wasn’t possible. But that didn’t change that it was very real.

“I don’t think anyone’s invented a teleport device recently, so that’s the only explanation I got.”

Davenport shook his head, disbelief still clear on his face. “Are you sure?”

Taako crossed his arms. “I know what I saw, Dav. He just turned and… disappeared.” He waved his hand a little.

Davenport took a deep breath. “Well. You know we’re gonna have to bring him in, right?”

Taako scrunched up his face at the thought. “Can’t someone else do that?”   
Reaper seemed like an okay guy. He had a sense of style, and he prayed to the Raven Queen. Most of her followers were decent people, if a little… strange.

“You don’t have to fight him,” Davenport said, “Not in the best case scenario, at least. You’re the only one who’s met him, maybe you could just ask.”

Taako huffed. “Yeah, right. Hey, bird guy, wanna come back to my place so my friend can dig around in your mind? Sound like fun, right? He’s not gonna do that, Dav. He wears a mask for a reason.”

“So do we all, but we still know each other’s identities. If he really has powers, and good intentions, we might as well offer him to work with us.”

Taako considered that for a moment. “He has no reason to trust us.”

Davenport smiled. “Then give him one.”

“And if it doesn’t work?” Taako didn’t believe it would.   
He wasn’t the one they sent out when they needed to make friends. That was Magnus’ job.

“If it doesn’t, we’ll have to apprehend him. One way or another, we need to know who he is and where he got his powers.”

Catching a guy who could teleport. That sounded like a fun way to waste time.

But alright, Taako would just have to try his best.

 

When Taako returned to his apartment, fully prepared to take a three hour nap and then drink five cups of coffee to function, the smell of bacon and eggs and freshly pressed orange juice hit him like a sledgehammer. 

Shit, he was hungry.

“Have I told you how much I love you lately?” he asked as he entered the kitchen and flopped down at the table, reaching out to get himself a big helping of scrambled eggs.

Lup looked up at him with a yawn. She looked half asleep, still.   
Probably spent her night helping out Barry on the job even though she was technically on recovery leave. 

She’d taken a bullet to the shoulder a couple weeks ago and still hadn’t been cleared by Merle to go back to work. Well, Davenport didn’t need to know.

“You said it twice yesterday,” she reminded him. 

Taako decided to forgo an answer and just shove a huge spoon full of breakfast goodness into his mouth.

“So. Creesh texted me you met a guy with powers?”

Taako looked at his watch. It had only been about half an hour since his talk with Davenport. 

Lucretia was nothing if not fast. She’d probably already filed away everything he’d said and then promptly informed everyone. What a nerd.

“Yup.” Taako popped the ‘p’ and drained his orange juice in one go. “Thought he was trying for supervillain at first, with that all black thing he’s got going on. But he was actually kinda chill.”   
Not that they’d talked that much, but he'd given off an okay vibe to Taako at least.

“A goth superhero? Man, I didn’t know you could do that! I could totally pull that off!” Lup stole a piece of bacon off Taako’s plate and chewed it thoughtfully. “He cute?”

Taako retaliated by taking a sip of her coffee. “Didn’t see his face, dingus. He was wearing a mask.”

Lup stuck out her tongue at him. “You can still tell.”

“I guess he was? It was pretty dark…”

He dreaded the look on his sister’s face.   
That evil smirk always got everyone around her in trouble. “Koko, this is the start of your epic love story! Finally!”   
She squished his face between her hands and leaned in close.   
Taako shoved her away.

“He might still be evil. We don’t know that,” he reminded her, but Lup only grinned wider. “Adds to the excitement.”

Actually the thought of a little fooling around with a mysterious stranger sounded very tempting to Taako. It didn’t have to be a romance or anything.   
But he was pretty sure Davenport would actually kill him if he did that.   
Reaper was a wild card.   
And Taako didn’t want to be found dead in the gutter. That wouldn’t be a fitting end for a superhero like the Wizard. If he got killed doing his job, he’d do it with style.

“I’m not gonna date the guy, Lulu.” He stood up to get himself a second helping of eggs from the pan on the stove. 

A knock on his front door made him pause. Who could that be? All his friends knew he’d just gotten off work, they wouldn’t bother him right now. He exchanged a look with Lup, who just raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

Taako left the kitchen to open the front door.

The man standing there seemed a little sheepish. He was wearing shorts and a shirt with a band logo on it that Taako didn’t recognize. It looked like a sleep outfit, and that’s what it probably was, considering the early hour.

But his clothes weren’t what made Taako pause.   
This guy was… _extremely handsome_. Both taller and broader than Taako, if not by much, with a near perfect jawline and cheekbones to die for and full lips and-

“… dering if I could borrow some from you?”

Huh?

Taako blinked. “What?”

The Actual Angel in front of him was still smiling politely. “Would you mind if I borrowed some butter?”

Taako nodded automatically. “I… uh… I’ll just… I’ll go get it for you. Just. Wait a second.”

He practically sprinted back into the kitchen. “Holy shit, Lup!” he whisper-shouted, “Fucking forget Reaper, there’s some kind of god of beauty at my door!” He grabbed the butter and rushed back out to the waiting stranger.

“Here you go.” He smiled his most charming smile. “Sorry, I’m kinda tired. Long night. What was your name again?”

The stranger took the butter and gave Taako a different smile, warmer, less polite and more genuine. “Kravitz. Thanks for this.”

“No problem, dude. ’s just butter.” Taako shrugged.

Kravitz was watching him expectantly, and he suddenly realized he hadn’t introduced himself yet. “Oh! I’m Taako. Nice to meet you.” And it really was.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Kravitz said. His voice was smooth like fucking chocolate. Taako gripped the door frame a little harder. “I’ll see you around, Taako.”

With a small wave, Kravitz turned and… headed into the apartment right next to his. The empty one. Well, previously empty.

Taako let out a long breath and closed the door. “Fuck me,” he murmured, leaning against it. 

Lup poked her head through the doorway.

“That hot?”

Taako nodded weakly. “And guess what? He's the new neighbor. How am I supposed to survive this?”

Lup moved over and patted his shoulder sympathetically. “Only one thing to do, bro. Seduce the shit out of the hot guy.”

That was... for sure the Taako Approach. Might as well... try? Why was he suddenly not feeling his confident self?

Oh, he knew the reason. He looked at his sister with pleading eyes, as if she could do anything to help him out.

"Shit. Fuck, Lulu, I'm really gay."


	3. Sizzlin' 101

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented, you guys keep me inspired!
> 
> This chapter is once again a little exposition-y with another important character introduction, but I swear we're very close to getting to some action.
> 
> [I have a tumblr, come play with meeee!](https://taakolicious.tumblr.com/)

A couple hours after the hot neighbor incident, a very grumpy Taako entered the restaurant kitchen. He only had one beginner’s class to teach today, so it was gonna be a relatively calm afternoon.

Lup was head of the kitchen in this place, and she’d easily managed to convince the owner to let Taako teach classes on Thursdays, when the restaurant was closed anyway.

His whole former cooking show host status enabled him to take quite a bit of money for a part time gig like this.   
Lots of people came just to get an autograph and a chat. Taako made sure they went home at least knowing the difference between starchy and waxy potatoes.

Taako got to preparing the kitchen for his class, yawning.

All he wanted to do was go back to bed. Maybe think of ways to ask Kravitz out on a date some more.

He definitely didn’t want to deal with fans who were crushing on him, or who wanted to brag to their friends about having taken a cooking lesson from the Taako.

He wondered what they’d say if they knew he was also a superhero. Taako was glad for his mask. Too much fame would be unhealthy, even for him.

Ten minutes until his students would arrive. Taako sighed.

He’d already had three cups of coffee before leaving, another one wouldn’t hurt. He’d already reduced his coffee intake dramatically since college, so he was good, health wise. The coffee machine the employees used was decent enough, courtesy of Lup, and five minutes later Taako was leaning against the counter, sipping slowly at the scalding hot liquid.

The kitchen door swung open. Taako paused, eyeing the newcomer curiously. “You get lost, kiddo? School’s on the other side of town.”

“Oh, no, sir! I’m pretty sure this is the right place for my cooking lesson, and you’re Taako!” The boy beamed at him, though he seemed a little nervous.   
He was dressed up all fancy, in an adorable small suit, and he was holding a notebook with dozens of sticky notes between the pages.

In summary, he looked like a nerd. If he was wearing jeans, he might have as well been Barry’s kid.

“That’s me, kid. The one and only.” Taako grabbed the list of participants of this course and scanned it.   
He really should put an age limit on his classes. Now he’d have to try and watch his mouth and shit, if he didn’t want to deal with pissed off parents. “And you are?”

“My name’s Angus McDonald,” the boy said. Taako made a little checkmark behind his name on the list.

“You know anything about cooking, Angles?”

To his credit, the kid straight up ignored the wrong name and shook his head no.

“This is a beginner’s class, right? Do I have to know anything? Was there any reading I should’ve done?”

Nerd. Taako fought back the urge to smile.

“Theory can only get you so far. Cooking is all about instinct. But there’s some stuff that should be obvious. Like your getup…” He gestured at the fancy suit Angus was wearing. “That’s not kitchen attire. It’ll get dirty, it’ll get ripped or burned… best case scenario it’ll smell like pasta sauce later.”

Angus looked down at himself with a frown. “Oh. I didn’t think of that. I don’t really have any less fancy clothes, sir.”

Taako sighed. Kid couldn’t be older than ten. “ ’s fine. As long as your parents don’t mind.”

Angus smiled hesitantly. “My grandpa doesn’t really notice the state of my clothes.”

That was something, at least. Taako nodded. “There’s aprons in that drawer over there, get yourself one.”

He finished up his coffee and went to prepare the ingredients they would need. Today was a pasta day, nothing too difficult for a bunch of people who’d possibly never turned on a stove before.

Angus was rummaging around behind him, but the sounds didn’t prepare Taako for the sight he was met with when he turned around.

Angus had put on an apron, and was trying to tie it around his waist. It was approximately ten sizes too big and the bottom few inches were piled up on the floor. Taako snorted and brought a hand to his mouth to he wouldn’t laugh too loud at the kid. A-fucking-dorable.

Angus gave him something that would have been a glare if there hadn’t been so much desperation in his eyes.

Taako took pity on him. “Not to worry, my little dude. Taako’s here to fix all your kitchen problems.”

He turned so his back was to Angus, obscuring his view, and pulled open a drawer. Alright, there was some string he could use as yarn, he just needed… A quick wave of his hand and a spoon turned into a sewing needle.

Taako’s superpower definitely won the usefulness award.

He turned back to Angus and gestured him to come closer. As Angus tried to do so without tripping over his apron, Taako threaded the needle and crouched down.

“Won’t the owners be mad if you make one of their aprons shorter?” Angus asked as Taako got to work.

“Nah.” He shook his head. “I’ll open it back up after class. I know a thing or two about sewing.” Mostly from a childhood spent wearing whatever clothes their foster families would be generous enough to give them.

“You know so much stuff I don’t,” Angus noted, “I’d like to know how to sew…”

Taako smiled. “Well, you’re just a kid. You got plenty of time to learn. For now…” He tugged on the apron’s end to see if it would give, then nodded to himself in satisfaction. “Let’s just start with cooking.”

Angus nodded, determination on his face as if he was about to storm into a monster’s den.

Taako wasn’t one for kids, he really wasn’t, but damn… he wanted to melt.

He settled for ruffling Angus’ hair in a friendly manner and straightened up as the other, much older participants started filing in.

“Hello and welcome to my kitchen! I’m Taako, but you knew that already!”

His most brilliant smile in place as he looked at his class, he didn’t notice Angus eyeing the sewing needle with a look of clear suspicion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, this was another short one.
> 
> The next chapter has like double length though, so that should make up for it.


	4. Hello again

Sometimes Taako really wondered why people were still doing jackass crimes when there were seven (now eight) superheroes determined to protect the people of Neverwinter. He understood people doing petty crimes to survive, like him and Lup had done back when they were kids, but there were just some people that Taako didn’t get.

Like the crime ring they’d taken down a year ago, whose base they’d made their own.

Or the three masked people who were currently trying to rob an old man at knife point, yelling threats and insults.

Taako clicked his tongue. Well, it was something to do, at least. He dropped down off the roof, transmuting the trash container below him into a slide as he fell.

He landed on top of it and slid down the rest of the way, brushing himself off as he got to his feet. “You know, I hear there was a time where even robbers had some sort of integrity. This guy is what, 120? Seriously? That’s so shitty of you.” He grinned and shrugged. “Guess I’m gonna have to teach you a thing or two.”

The robbers seemed appropriately intimidated, at least. The Wizard did have a reputation of being much less lenient than some of the others (like the Bear or Red Robe), and that he often did things that were... a little over the top, like turning someone’s clothes into a weird costume, or trapping someone in a giant blob of jelly.

Taako mostly did it to lighten up his job a little. He liked being creative.

With a wave of his hand, he shooed the old man away. “Go get someone to take you to the nearest police station. Tell them there’s a present waiting back here.” When the police got here, Taako would already be long gone. And if the old man actually got the idea to call instead, Captian Bane, who oversaw this precinct, was an old friend of theirs, and he’d stall for a while.

After ten years of being active as superheroes in this city, they had a decent network of allies. Taako wondered if Reaper worked all alone. That seemed way too hard.

In the beginning, Taako would have been lost without Lup’s moral support, Barry’s urging to experiment with their powers and study them, Magnus’ enthusiasm.

And now… well, Merle’s healing had saved his life a couple times. Lucretia was usually back at the base, ready to provide them with intel or call reinforcements. And Davenport? Well, without his leadership none of this would work in the first place.

Not that Taako hadn’t considered stopping. Hell, he _had_ left for almost two years. Focusing on Sizzle it Up, on his career and his cooking. But once the show had ended - on a rather unpleasant note of his assistant trying to poison him and almost killing a few members of his studio audience - Taako had returned home.

He’d started teaching classes, publishing new recipes on a blog that got him a decent enough income, and working on an actual cookbook that he still hadn’t finished.

And one night, he’d put the mask back on, just to relive what it felt like to be a hero one more time.

He hadn’t stopped after that.

It was like an addiction, the helping people without showing his face. The admiration. The conversations about the Wizard and his friends that he overheard so often.

Taako knew the others felt the same way. Sure, they all had slightly different reasons they named the most important, but it was obvious that none of them could just quit one day. Their lives wouldn’t feel complete anymore. So they kept doing what they did best.

As he was doing now. Taako blinked when one of the robbers actually had the guts to point their knife as him.

A wave of his hand, a burst of warmth from the pendant around his neck, and they were holding a rubber chicken. Ow. Taako frowned at the sudden headache. His powers needed more time than that to recharge. But his smile was back on his face after a second. They didn’t need to know that.

“Come on, now. I know you’re smarter than that. Let’s just all calm down and put down our weapons.” Taako smiled winningly at the three of them. Of course he only meant them here, Taako generally went unarmed, save for the small knife tucked into his boot for emergencies.

The first one dropped their rubber chicken and raised their hands above their head. The second one hesitated, but then their knife hit the ground with a high clinking sound.

The last one…

“No, fuck you, freak! I ain’t goin’ to jail again! ‘specially not being caught by some… some fuckin’ demon from hell!”

Taako rolled his eyes so hard it almost hurt. He’d heard all that countless times. Demon was a laughable insult, yet one people used a lot. They used alien more often though.

“I wish I’d come from hell,” Taako said brightly, “That’d make for one killer backstory.”

The other two, that Taako had dubbed the reasonable ones, were kneeling on the ground now, not moving an inch. Taako would put in a good word for them. It was always so much easier when they cooperated. Though it was true that a good fight, verbal or physical, was usually more fun.

The last robber spat on the pavement in front of Taako.

“Leave us the fuck alone. Take your… your piece of shit sister with her freak fire and go back to the hole you crawled out of!”

Now that was less fun. Taako could take insults against him easily, but no one insulted Lup if he had something to say.

Sometimes he hated how fast people had figured out Phantasma and the Wizard were twins. It subjected both of them to a lot of shit talk. This… was still pretty much harmless.

Still, Taako took a step closer, pointing his finger at the robber in a threatening gesture. “Now listen here, you little shit…”

There was a sound like fabric tearing, a ruffle of feathers… and then the robber stopped emoting, body going lax as he fell over unconscious in front of Taako.

“Dude! I was just getting started!” Taako glared at Reaper and crossed his arms. “You don’t take my fights from me like that!”

Reaper had the decency to look at least a little sheepish. “Police are almost here,” he said in an apologetic tone.

Taako huffed and eyed him. “Is that a fucking scythe?” That… that kind of made him stop being mad about the interrupted tirade. “Seriously?”

Reaper frowned. “I told you I’m the Reaper. I’m dedicated to my style. But if it makes you uncomfortable…”

Taako blinked in surprise as the scythe disappeared from his hand.

This fucking guy.

“Okay. Okay, birdman. We gotta talk. Now.”

 

They made quick work of tying the robbers to a lamp post together, just as police sirens could be heard in the distance.

Taako had to admit, even though he was still kinda sour about Reaper knocking out that asshole, it was nice having an additional pair of hands around. Usually Taako worked alone while the other person on hero shift was off fighting crime somewhere else. It was just more effective that way. Reaper was quick and efficient though. He didn’t get in the way, aside from that first incident.

“You worked in a team before?” Taako asked casually as he tied the last knot and stepped back to observe his handiwork.

Reaper shook his head. “To be quite honest, I’m very new to all of this.”

“I get that.” Taako nodded. “We’ve all been there.”

Reaper held out his hand. “I could give you a ride somewhere more private. Assuming you don’t want to have a talk with the police?”

Taako paused for a moment. “You gonna drag me to your secret underground lair to kill me?”

He definitely shouldn’t do this. He wasn’t Magnus, who trusted too easily and rushed into everything without thinking about it. He was Taako, and Taako was good out here.

Reaper smiled. “Who says that I wouldn’t have already killed you if I wanted to.”

Taako laughed. “Try me, Nevermore. I could take you.” He thought of the scythe again, and suddenly he wasn’t so sure.

But… aw, fuck it. Who’d ever heard of a coward superhero?

He reached out and took Reaper’s hand.

 

The sensation of teleporting was about as unpleasnt as possible. It was as if he’d stepped into a wall of icy air. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see… there was just cold darkness around him.

And then, within a moment, everything was back to normal. Taako shivered and wrapped his arms around himself.

“Okay, that’s… definitely my least favorite mode of transportation. How do you do it?”

Reaper shrugged. “It gets easier over time.”

Taako looked around. They were back on the rooftop where they’d first met. One of Taako’s favorite place in the city.

“Guess I got real lucky, at least my powers don’t make me feel like an icicle. And what’s up with your skin being cold? You feel like a corpse, dude.”

Reaper sighed. “I’m sorry. It comes with the powers.”

Taako laughed and sat on the edge of the roof, patting the space next to him. “My friend, you have gotten yourself one shitty deal.”

“I guess.” Reaper sat, keeping his distance as he looked Taako over. “It’s a small price to pay for the chance to help people.”

Figures. Taako rolled his eyes. “You’re one of those superheroes. You’d get along with Bear. Or my sister. They’re all about that philanthropy.”

“Well, what other reason is there to do this job? What’s yours?” Reaper asked.

Taako shrugged. “I like the feeling of changing stuff, I guess. Having influence on how shitty the world is.”

That… was not what he’d meant to say at all. This was the truth, and he was just laying it out in the open like this.

“Huh.” Reaper nodded. “So you’re a big picture kinda guy. I understand.”

“Yeah.” Taako waved him off and stared at the city lights. Him and Lup had learned early that the world could be cold and unforgiving. And while Lup fought that by giving out love and warmth to everyone around her, Taako was a little more distanced. 

Didn’t want to be seen as a good person or something, because that only upped people’s expectations. 

He liked helping people without being known. That included saving someone from a burning car, but also secretly leaving a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee on Lucretia’s desk when she was too stressed to take breaks.

“So…” Reaper’s voice broke the silence and Taako steeled himself. He did not want to have this conversation. “You said you wanted to talk to me?”

Taako bit his lip. “Yeah. More or less. I said we have to talk. Not that I want to.”

“Ah.” Reaper nodded his understanding. “So I suppose you’re acting on the Captain’s orders?”

A sharp guy. Taako sighed. “There’s a standard procedure for when new wannabe heroes show up,” he explained, “We protect this city, and that also means we protect normal people who think they can pull off the shit we do. Only…”

“Only I’m not normal people.”

Talking to Reaper was easier than Taako had thought. Too easy, almost. He would have to watch his mouth so he didn’t accidentally slip a secret or two.

“Precisely, my man.” He patted Reaper’s arm, still weirded out by how cold he was. “So we don’t really know what to do. We can’t just trust you to have good intentions. We don’t know you. So… the Captain asked me to ask you to come in for questioning.” Taako watched anxiously as Reaper thought about that. Then his face darkened.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. You don’t trust me, but the same goes the other way around. What if I say something you don’t like? Would you try to lock me up? I’ve seen the good your people do, but I don’t know you all. I can’t trust you just like that.”

Taako nodded. “I get that.” He wasn’t sure if Reaper knew about Lucretia’s power. Rarely anyone did.

Her mind reading skill was the reason why she was in charge of all interrogations, but also why she rarely went out into the field. Once she opened herself up to the world around her, she couldn’t control whose mind she read, and it got overwhelming real quick.

Better have her work in a closed off room, with only one person to focus on. When she did go out, she usually only relied on her martial arts training and nothing powers related.

People who were brought in for questioning rarely ever liked the idea of her digging around in their brains, but it was a necessary evil.

Of course Reaper would want to protect his identity.

“So what do we do now?” Reaper asked, “Will you try to bring me in yourself?”

“Nah.” Taako stretched his arms and yawned. “You seem like a decent enough guy. No reason to fight you just 'cause you don’t wanna give away your secrets.”

Reaper smiled. “I’m beginning to like you, Wizard.”

Taako laughed. “Yeah, I just have that effect on people.”

“I see that. The press seems to like you most out of your group,” Reaper noted.

Taako grinned. “Drives 'tasma furious. But all she does is fire and explosions. I’m creative.”

Reaper nodded. “Yes, your way to solve problems is certainly… unique. It’s the most interesting to read about in the paper, for sure. Remember when you turned the raindrops into drops of soap and it made the ground all slippery and all these guys running away just fell flat on their faces? That was good one.”

“Hah!” Taako pointed at him. “I knew you were a fan!”

Reaper raised his hands defensively. “Hey, who isn’t, these days?”

He didn't even know how right he was on that one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some stuff about everyone's powers for you!  
> Also Taako's powers basically work like this: he can transform stuff, but only into an object of vaguely the same size, and he needs to recover a bit before using his powers again (he can do it twice without risking more than a pretty bad headache though)
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented so far, you're really helping keeping me inspired to write more!


	5. A little slice of happiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated Candlenights everyone! I hope you all had a nice, warm, comfortable time and ate lots of good food and had some hot chocolate.
> 
> Today is a fluff day. Let me give you something to make your hearts feel warm <3

Taako was making breakfast. Waffles. Crêpes. Eggs Benedict. The full deal.

Food was his and Lup’s way to pay each other back when the other did nice things for them. And Lup making sure he ate after last Thursday’s shift only made it logical that Taako would be the one to make breakfast today. Lup and Barry had been out for date night last night, not for work, but Barry looked just as tired as he would be been if he’d caught a mafia boss the night before.

He didn’t even react to Taako standing in the kitchen when he walked in around 8:30, aside from humming appreciatively when Taako turned and pressed a cup of coffee into his hands. A shitload of milk and no sugar. Pretty much the exact opposite of how Lup liked it.

“Mornin’, Barold. Have a nice night?” Taako smirked at him. He’d shared an apartment with Lup up until six years ago, and that meant he was more than well informed about how the end of date night usually went. No wonder dear Barold was as tired as he was.

Barry glared at him and made a noncommital noise. The shower got turned on and Taako could hear Lup’s muffled singing from the bathroom. She was the morning person to balance out him and Barry. If Taako wasn’t so used so it and Barry wasn’t so incredibly in love with her, it would be annoying to both of them.

Now though, Taako was actually awake. He’d already had his coffee at home. He wouldn’t have left his apartment without at least one cup.

Taako hummed along with Lup’s singing and pulled the fridge open. “You guys have any orange juice?”

Barry’s head raised from the table he’d been resting it on and he yawned. “I’ll ask, gimme a sec.” He got up and walked over to the bathroom wall, putting his hands against it and pushing his head right through. There was a scream. Then: “Stop screaming, it’s me! Are we out of orange juice?”

Barry pulled his head back over and frowned at Taako who was doubled over laughing, clutching the counter to keep himself up.

“Fuck, Barry! Does that… does that count as using your powers for good?”

Barry looked slightly sheepish as he waited for Taako to calm down. “Guess I should’ve used the door. She never freaks out when I just pull back the curtain and hop in.”

Taako threw a handful of flour at him. “Too much information, Bluejeans.”

“You’ve seen and heard worse!” Lup called from where she was emerging from the bathroom, hair sopping wet and wrapped in a bathrobe on top of the pajamas she’d apparently just slipped back into. She walked over to give Barry a kiss on the cheek as he wiped the flour off his glasses.

“Smells amazing, Gandalf,” she said, leaning in to pick at the pile of hot waffles.

Taako slapped her hand away. “Wait ‘til I set the table, you animal.” He’d long given up on making her stop with the wizard nicknames. It was slightly harder to come up with fire based nicknames, honestly. Most of them just sounded too cool to work for teasing.

Barry hurried to set the table instead as Taako taste tested the eggs and nodded to himself, holding out the spoon for Lup.

She tried a bite and frowned in concentration for a moment, then grinned widely. “Perfect, bro. As always.”

“Of course it is.” Taako huffed, pretending that he didn’t need Lup’s approval. She just laughed.

Famous chef or not, if Lup didn’t think a dish was good, it wasn’t good enough for Taako either. Everyone knew that.

“So, what’s up today? Any plans?” Taako asked, setting down the waffles and eggs on the table.

He took a seat next to Barry who was still moving a little slow as if not fully awake yet. He should be, after that quick trip to the shower. His hair was still wet.

Lup’s, too, but she was already using one hand to blow dry it with a gust of hot air, and the other to shovel waffles into her mouth.

It was nice, Taako thought as he transformed his orange juice into go-gurt, to use their powers this casually around each other when they had to hide them from everyone else. They didn’t need to know he’d been aiming for chocolate milk.

 

It was a sleepy Sunday morning, none of them bound by work or hero stuff, and Taako called for some twin plus nerd bonding time. Lup and Barry had been dating for over nine years, almost as long as they’d all had their powers, and weirdly enough it hadn’t taken Taako long to welcome Barry into their family.

He was like a brother to Taako, ugly jeans and nerd shit and all.

Once either him or Lup finally got over their awkwardness and decided to pull out the ring that both of them carried around in their pockets, Taako would start referring to Barry as a brother even outside his own head.

It was always nice to go out with both of them. No one ended up feeling like the third wheel, and Lup and Barry were such a sickeningly sweet couple that Taako couldn’t even be jealous if he tried.

Sometimes Lup would be cheesy on purpose to annoy him, in true twin fashion.

Whenever he heard her use “Barry-Bear” he promised himself that if he ever ended up in a long-term relationship like that he’d be chill about it.

Until then he could only tease back.

“Oh, my beautiful Barold,” he sang, hooking his arm into Barry’s as they walked down the street towards the park. “It’s such a delight spending this perfect Sunday with you and your handsome face! Every moment I have to be without you is a struggle!”

On Barry’s other side, Lup huffed. “I do not sound like that. At all.”

Barry shrugged, clearly trying not to laugh. “Well…”

Taako was prepared for the impact as Lup shoved her boyfriend right against him.

“You’re not supposed to side with him! He’ll only get worse if he gets encouraged!” she complained, and Taako laughed.

“Barry has been on my side this entire time, dear sister. Our evil plan is to make your life a living hell full of bad puns and surprise hugs.”

Now Lup and Barry laughed along with him. Taako felt his heart swell as he looked at them. He loved his family so much. He wouldn’t tell them out loud, but they knew.

When he met Lup’s eyes her grin softened into a smile. She’d read his thoughts. “C'mon, let’s go feed the ducks.”

It was a shame Magnus wasn’t here. Magnus loved ducks almost as much as he loved dogs. Maybe he just loved all animals starting with D? Taako would have to check his stance on dolphins.

But sadly, they’d all decided not to hang out outside of superhero work. Lup and Barry were dating, so they were an exception, and no one could deny Taako and Lup’s relation, but the others steered clear from each other as much as they could.

That way, it would be harder to find the others should one of their identities be revealed. Lup wasn’t a big fan of that arrangement, but Taako agreed with Davenport that they could never be too careful. He didn’t want to put Julia in danger, for example. Or Mavis and Mookie.

Precautions needed to be taken. None of them wanted their identities to be revealed, but for some there was more to it than just their own lives. Being a superhero wasn’t all helping people and being celebrated. It was dangerous as fuck, too.

None of them were almighty.

Taako’s transmutation power went haywire sometimes, and it always exhausted him if he used it too much.

Lup quite literally burned herself up, and she always had to rest for a long time if she went too far with her powers, her symptoms similar to a fever.

Merle’s healing powers weren’t strong enough to fully heal a mortal wound, but enough to make someone last long enough to get proper help, and his plant controlling wasn’t nearly as impressive in the city as it was out in the wild when he was surrounded by nature.

They all had flaws. They could be defeated, and Taako didn’t want to let them forget that. Confidence was nice. Caution saved lives.

Before college, and the light, and the powers, he hadn’t allowed himself to care about anyone but Lup. Now he had more or less unwillingly stumbled into this huge, warm, dorky family. And he didn’t want to lose any of them.

 

“Hello, Sir!” Taako blinked, shaken out of his thoughts, and turned away from where Lup and Barry had amassed a whole flock of ducks and pigeons they were feeding with bird seed.

Angus McDonald, nerdy kid and amazing cook to be, was sitting under a tree close by, a book open on his lap. He waved at Taako.

Taako waved back. “Hey, Ango!” 

He left the two lovebirds to walk over and sit next to the little boy. Honestly, Angus was a pleasure to teach, much better than the adults he usually had in his classes. He soaked up knowledge like a sponge and tried so hard to do everything right. 

Sadly, he didn’t seem to have much of an instinct for cooking, but they’d only had one class so far. No great cook had started that good. It was a bumpy road, full of cuts and burns and onion cutting tears, but at least Angus had the best teacher in the world.

“What'cha reading?” Taako asked, looking down at the book.

Angus smiled. “Caleb Cleveland! It’s my favorite book series, about a boy my age who solves crimes!”

Adorable. Fuck.

Taako leaned his back against the tree. “You like detectives?”

People were looking over at him suspiciously, and if Taako cared any more he’d worry what this looked like to others, an adult man approaching a lone little kid in the park.

Angus didn’t seem to be thinking about that at all. He grinned. “Yeah, I wanna be a detective when I grow up. Actually I-” He broke off, looking down at his lap.

Taako looked down at him, a little confused. He didn’t understand kids. Angus was okay, but Taako still had trouble reading him. “I think that’s a really cool career choice. You’d be catching bad guys, just like a superhero.”

“Well… not quite like that.” But Angus was smiling again. “Is that your sister over there?” He pointed at Lup who was laughing at a pigeon that had landed on her head.

“Actually I have never seen that woman in my entire life,” Taako deadpanned, feeling a surge of pride at himself when Angus started laughing.

He sounded like an adult a lot of the time, but his laugh was high and clear like a little boy’s should be. Carefree.

_Alright, Taako, stop with the projecting already._

“She looks just like you, Sir, that was a bad lie,” Angus said, pressing a hand to his side, a little breathless.

“She’s just a dedicated fan.” Taako ruffled Angus’ hair. “I gotta go check on them, wouldn’t want those pigeons to eat poor Barold. I’ll see you in class on Thursday?”

Angus nodded enthusiastically. “Of course, Sir! I even had my grandpa buy me some less fancy clothes for the kitchen!”

Taako gave him a thumbs up. Then he looked around. “He here?”

Angus bit his lip. “Uh… no, Sir. He doesn’t leave home much. I have a babysitter, but she dropped me off here so she could go watch a movie.” He shrugged.

Taako nodded his understanding. Angus came from a different world than Taako, financially, but… Taako could very much relate to adults not giving a shit.

You don’t have to give a shit either, his mind reminded him, You’re not his family.

But Angus didn’t have a Lup to cheer him up and make him feel warm inside.

Taako would give him some of that, if he could. He wasn’t a particularly warm person, but food could do many things that people couldn’t.

He’d make that little boy happy, even if he wouldn’t be caught dead admitting that he cared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would die for lup and angus mcdonald


	6. Things get heated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you all had a nice New Year's Eve and started this year on a good note.
> 
> Updates might be slow for a while since I'm a little behind on writing right now (thanks depression) but there should still be a chapter a week.
> 
> Enjoy my wizard boy!

As relaxing as the day with Lup and Barry had been, Taako needed to actually do some normal work. 

He spent pretty much all of Monday working through the tons of recipes he and Lup had invented over the years and trying to decide which ones to put in the cookbook.   
Of course he'd credit Lup on the ones she'd helped develop, even though she'd insisted she didn't need him to.

Around nine in the evening he stumbled upon an older recipe that he couldn't quite remember. He'd have to make it to see if it was good enough.   
And he hadn't had dinner yet anyway... Taako opened the fridge and frowned.

"Shit." There was barely any food left at all. That was what he'd been supposed to do today. Grocery shopping. Even with transmutation powers, he couldn't make food from nothing.

But it was so late... But he was also Taako from tv and his pride couldn't take eating cereal as dinner...  
Taako sighed deeply and grabbed his jacket.

 

At least the grocery store was pretty much empty. There was a guy in a bathrobe that Taako avoided as he pulled baking ingredients off the shelves. Humming softly to himself, he didn't hear much of what was going on around him, and he flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."  
It took Taako a moment to recompose himself. 

If Kravitz had looked hot in pajamas, he was fucking _ethereal_ in formal clothes. His three piece suit pressed against his body tightly in all the right places and - _Taako, stop objectifying the nice new neighbor._

"No worries, my dude. I just wasn't paying attention." Taako often let himself drift off like that. The Wizard had to keep an eye on his environment all the time, so he let himself relax in his normal day to day life.

"Did you find the butter on your doorstep? I rang the   
bell but no one answered."

Because Lup had been long gone and Taako asleep, recovering from a night staying up on the rooftops and patroling the city.

"Yeah, found it." Half melted, that afternoon. "Sorry, I was asleep. Worked all night on my cookbook." Ah, yes. Subtly drop the celebrity bomb. That always worked.

"Oh." Kravitz smiled, and Taako wanted to kiss that smile. "So you are that Taako? From the tv show?"

Taako bowed elegantly. "In the flesh."

Okay. Kravitz's smile was nothing compared to his laugh. Taako suddenly wanted to run far, far away.

"I'm afraid, I haven't seen any of it yet. But I'll be sure to check it out now that I know you're the host."

Fuck. Was that a flirt? That was a flirt, right?

"If you want I could just give you a live demonstration?" Taako suggested. 

His heart was beating way too fast. Fuck everything. Why was he so nervous? He was usually so good at keeping his cool when flirting. 

But Kravitz was… just very hot.   
And he lived right next door, which meant fucking it up would make future meetings in the hallway pretty awkward.

"I think I'd like that very much."

Taako grinned and patted Kravitz's arm. "It's a date."

Kravitz blinked. Then his smile widened. "It's a date," he agreed softly.

As soon as they'd exchanged numbers and Kravitz had left the store, Taako called Lup and started gushing.

 

Tuesday morning, Taako was lying in bed and contemplated if getting up was worth it at all.   
He didn't have to, necessarily. 

He was on shift that night anyway, maybe he should get some sleep up front for once.

His bed was so warm and there was a spot of sunlight he was curled up in… he didn't want to leave.

With a yawn, Taako buried his face in his pillow. Ex-celebrity life was chill as hell.

Maybe he'd write a blog entry later. Just to actually do something for his money.

His phone rung.

Davenport's ringtone.   
Maybe someone wanted to take over his shift tonight! Then he would be able to call up Kravitz and spend the night with him.

Taako reached out for his phone.  
"Sup, Dabenport?" He chuckled.

Davenport did not. 

"Suit up, Taako," he commanded, all business.

Taako sat up straight. He didn't like that tone of voice.  
"What's going on?" He reached for his necklace, just to make sure it was there. The stone pendant was warm and comforting under his fingers.

Davenport sighed. 

Taako put him on speaker and rushed to grab the bag with his Wizard clothes.

"The bank on Green Street. By the temple of Istus? There's a robbery going on. They have hostages and…"

"And?" Taako prodded, stuffing his mask into his pocket.

Davenport hesitated for another second. "Lup is one of them."

Taako froze. "What?"

"Lup is in there. And she doesn't have her gauntlet." 

Of course she didn't. Lup didn't carry her gauntlet around the same way Taako never went anywhere without his stone, or Barry without the bell in his pocket. 

Taako cursed Lup's power object for being so hard to conceal.   
It wasn't like she'd had a choice, but would a normal glove have been too much to ask?

Taako popped his earpiece in and hung up on Davenport with the promise to be at the bank soon. 

A moment later Lucretia's voice piped up in his ear. "Six armed robbers. We think there might be more somewhere, backing them up. Eighteen hostages." 

She was talking in that matter of fact voice she always used when guiding them on missions.   
But Taako could hear that she was worried about Lup as well. Martial arts could only do so much against six guns, if it came to that.

Taako stepped out into the corridor, bag slung over his shoulder, trying to look casual.

Kravitz was there.

Of fucking course he was there.

"Hey, Taako!" He was carrying a large bag of groceries.  
Taako flashed him a fake smile. 

Normally he'd take this as an opportunity to help Kravitz store away his stuff and catch a glimpse of his apartment and earn brownie points. 

But as it was he wanted nothing less than a long conversation.

"Hey, handsome! Sorry, I don't have time for chit-chat right now! Family emergency!" He pushed past Kravitz and ignored the look of confusion and worry on his face.

"Anything I can help with?" Chivalrous, too. 

Taako groaned internally.

"Nope, not right now. I just gotta help my sister." Not even a lie. 

"Alright. You can… call me if you need anything. I'd be happy to help."

Taako turned and smiled at him again, more genuine this time. "Appreciate it, Krav, but I gotta go!" Walking backwards, he rounded the corner and twirled around, hurrying downstairs.

 

It took him less than ten minutes to get to the bank. As he ran, Taako wondered if Davenport had called him because he'd been the closest at the time and could reach the location fastest.

Lucretia had told him Barry, Magnus and Merle were all on the way separately, but they would arrive some time after Taako, no matter how much they hurried. 

Barry was probably just passing through buildings to be faster. Probably freaking out right now.

Taako wasn't. Totally not freaking out. He was just shaking out of excitement.

He'd changed in the basement of his apartment building, and even that had taken so much patience. 

He just needed to protect Lup. Get Lup out of there.

Taako took a deep breath and stepped onto the plaza in front of the bank.

It was pure chaos. People were shouting, yelling for their loved ones. 

The police had built a barricade of cars around the entrance. 

Captain Bane was frantically talking to someone on his cell phone.

He acknowledged Taako with a nod, but nothing else.

Taako could feel everyone else's eyes on him. He smiled, trying to hide his nervousness. "Everything's gonna be okay! Wizard's here now. Reinforcements on the way. We'll get everyone out of there."

He felt like he should say more, but he wasn't the one people usually turned to for comfort or calming words, or guidance. 

Lup should be out here.

Taako looked at the bank, trying to see what was going on inside.

"Wizard." Hurley walked up to him, and Taako felt a little better seeing her. 

She was probably the most competent officer on the force, or at least the most badass one. 

"Hurls. What's going on? Who's he talking to?"

Hurley gestured at the building. "The leader of this whole operation, I guess. They're trying to talk it out, but it doesn't look like we're gonna get anywhere. I'm so fucking glad to see you. You said something about reinforcements?"

Taako nodded. "The Bear, Red Robe and Peacemaker are on the way right now, but I don't know how fast they can be." 

Merle would be sorely needed, it looked like. Taako could see an ambulance parked nearby and three officers with what looked like bullet wounds being tended to. 

Taako didn't even want to think of the possibilities of the hostages inside being hurt. Of Lup being hurt.

He took a deep breath. "I'm going in."

"What?" Hurley shook her head frantically, "You can't do that, what about the hostages?"

Taako looked towards the building. Lup was in there. Probably currently sassing whoever was threatening her. She'd go in headfirst, too.

"I'm not going in to attack them. I just wanna talk to them. Might be able to get the hostages to safety somehow..." 

He was well-rested, some bigger transformations shouldn't be a problem. He'd figure it out. But for now he just needed to get in there and do something.

The robbers would run out of patience eventually. The least Taako could do was stall them until his reinforcements got there.

He wished he could just storm into the bank and transform all their guns into venomous snakes or something. 

But he couldn't do more than one transformation at once and they would be too quick to pick up what was going on for him to do it one by one, and Taako did not want to die before he got to watch Lup walk down the aisle.

"Stalling is a good idea," Lucretia piped up in his ear, "But please be careful."

"Always am," Taako murmured. 

He smiled at Hurley. "Don't worry, I got this. You guys just stay in position and be ready for… whatever happens."

Hurley frowned. "That's... reassuring. Are you sure this is how you want to do this?"

Taako shrugged. "No choice. I can't take them on my own. I'm just gonna make sure they don't hurt the hostages. When the others get here we'll kick their asses."

After a moment's hesitation, Hurley nodded. "You're going to have to get in through the back. They shoot everyone who gets too close to the entrancs. There's probably one or two of them guarding the other doors so..."

"Windows. I got it." Taako straightened himself up. 

He was good at talking. 

He'd fucking talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merle is only called Peacemaker because Davenport didn't let him go with Weedman. 
> 
> Also. I just realised Kravitz goes grocery shopping twice in two days. But you know what? He's a disaster gay, he probably forgot half his stuff after the talk with Taako.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated! (Seriously some of the stuff you guys comment I don't even know how to respond to because it's so sweet. You're the best.)


	7. Buying time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Thanks for all the nice feedback!
> 
> This chapter is a little shorter again (the whole bank thing was supposed to be one long one originally) but I had to put the cut here. It was just too good.

"Um, exuse me, I would like to make a deposit." Taako grinned at the twenty or so pairs of eyes landing on him. 

He'd easily avoided the two guards at the back door, so that meant four guns in the room right now. He immediately scanned the environment, all while trying to look casual like he'd just walked into the bank on a normal day. 

Most of the hostages seemed unharmed. 

One of the four robbers kept aiming his gun at whoever dared to move, while the other three kept their weapons trained on Taako.

"You'd better leave, Wizard," one of them growled, "This is nothing you can stop." 

Taako knew he was just playing brave. Just like Taako was, actually.

His eyes finally found Lup's. She nodded at him firmly. 

Taako relaxed.

She had a split lip, a large bruise forming on her cheekbone, but otherwise she was okay.  
She'd probably mouthed off, since she was the only one with any sort of injury.  
And really, Taako couldn't be any less surprised.

"How about you and me have a little chit-chat. Figure out this whole..." Taako waved his hands. "Situation. The way I see it, we got ourselves kind of a draw here. The cops won't let you leave the building. And you won't let the hostages go. Honestly, I don't even give a shit about the money. I don't have an account here." 

He could see Lup try to hide a snort. "But I think no one here wants to see innocent people get hurt. So, any suggestions?"

"Fuck off," the first guy said. 

Taako rolled his eyes. "Creative. But seriously. Let's find a solution where you let the hostages go and I don't have to kick your asses."

Number One, who Taako quickly marked down as Boss Guy, nodded at his men. One of them took a step toward where the hostages were huddled on the ground and grabbed… Lup. 

Fuck her for always drawing the most attention. 

Taako tensed, blood boiling when he saw the barrel of a gun pressed against the underside of her jaw.  
She could probably free herself if she wanted to drop her cover... but the chance she'd be too slow was too high.

"You're not doing shit here," Boss Guy snarled, "In fact, you're gonna turn right around and get your ass out of here and tell the cops that we'll kill off all these people one by one if they don't leave." 

Lup tried to wiggle out of her captor's grip, obviously only a half hearted attempt.  
She still got the man to tighten his grip on her and push the gun harder against her jaw.

Taako stayed completely still, not daring to look at his sister too long in fear of giving himself away.

"You don't really wanna do that," he said, throat feeling dry all of a sudden. "C'mon, give me something to work with here. Let's actually talk." He sounded way more pleading than he wanted to. 

No transmutation right now. If they felt threatened they might do something stupid.

"Like you have anything to offer." 

"Barry's almost at your location," Lucretia murmured, in his ear.

Taako's smile turned a little bit easier. Barry was good at intimidating people into doing what he wanted - ironic considering what a fucking nerd he was underneath that robe.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. But you know this won't end well for you if you make me do something I don't wanna do."

Bluffing was easy. Natural.  
Just until Barry got here… together they'd be able to turn the tides, Taako was sure. They just needed to use the surprise effect.

Magnus should hurry the fuck up though. A bullet shield would be nice in a couple minutes.

The sound of fabric tearing. Taako cursed silently.

"Who the fuck-?"

"Hello," said a voice with a terrible Cockney accent, "Why don't you put your guns down and we'll be civil about this?" 

Taako felt Reaper's presence at his side more than he saw him, because he was watching the four men who seemed way more nervous at the sight of a new enemy. 

Well, he had to give it to Reaper, he had the whole intimidation thing down.

"Already tried that, buddy," he murmured, "They're not super up for talking." 

He didn't like having a variable he knew next to nothing about.  
Sure, Reaper meant well but Taako couldn't read him like everyone on his own team.

"Couldn't you have just… materialized behind them or something?" 

Reaper paused. "Well. I could have, I suppose. But there's four of them in here and two more in the back. I couldn't risk failing." 

Taako saw him glance at Lup who was obviously doing her best to stay still and not fight back.  
There was fire in her eyes though. She was probably wishing so bad for her gauntlet right now.  
Lup wasn't exactly the damsel in distress type.

"I get that," Taako murmured, "We should get this over with without getting anyone killed."

Reaper gave him a half smile. "Glad to see we're on the same page."

And then everything went to shit.


	8. Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're not even at the halfway point yet, this fic has gotten so out of hand.
> 
> Writing action isn't exactly my strong suit, but I hope this chapter turned out okay anyway.

In retrospect, Taako should have known Barry would get emotional. He'd always been an emotional person, and Lup was his weak point.

Still, Taako hadn't expected Barry phasing through the wall behind the four men and immediately throwing himself at the one holding Lup.

Taako had been counting on the surprise effect, but Lucretia hadn't had the time to warn him, and so he was just as surprised as everyone else.

Lup reacted fast, dropping herself into a crouch as the robber tried to fight Barry off.

Taako was next to act, quickly transforming the gun of the closest man into a water gun.   
He saw Reaper punching the guy aiming at Lup, causing him to drop his own weapon.

Two down. 

Taako took a deep breath, trying to focus his magic enough for another transformation.

Now what could he... The floor tiles! That would work just great.  
He raised his hand, feeling the stinging headache that always happened when he didn't give himself time to recharge.

The tiles right in front of him turned into ice. 

Caught by surprise, the third man cursed and, in trying to find his balance, left Taako an opening to step close and twist his arm until he dropped his gun. 

Taako rammed his elbow into the man's face, knee into his stomach, and sent him to the floor in a heap.

Three down. 

Reaper's opponent seemed passed out, and he was already engaged with the third, disarmed man.

Barry was still struggling to get the upper hand against the asshole who had hurt Lup. He went incoporeal, then back to solid in the blink of an eye as he dodged hits and got in a couple good punches.

The man at Taako's feet was crawling towards the nearest gun, and Taako quickly stepped on his outstretched hand, putting his full weight on it until he could feel bones crack.

"Hey, fuckers!" _Lup._

Taako turned to look at her and everything seemed to freeze. 

She'd grabbed one of the guns.   
To anyone else she would have seemed nervous, scared even. Her voice was shaking, her hold on the gun unsteady as she kept the gun trained on Barry's opponent - the last robber standing. 

But Taako could see through the act. This was the opportunity she'd been waiting for, and she was enjoying the way the tables had turned.

"I'm not very creative so I'm just gonna repeat what you told me before. Get on your knees or I'll blow your brains out."

And after a moment, the asshole actually followed her order. 

Taako let out a breath of relief. He looked towards Barry and snorted. His hearteyes were visible even under his hood.

They both very much wanted to go and hug Lup now, but that would have to wait.

Taako turned to grin at Reaper. "Good job, dude. We'll   
make a hero outta you yet."

Reaper huffed, not taking his eyes off the four guys on the ground.  
"We should tell Captain Bane to get in here… get the other two guys before they figure out what's going on." 

Taako scanned the faces of the hostages. "Anyone injured?"

A lot of head shaking.

Okay, so this was a full success.

"You can put down the gun now, sweetheart," Taako said to Lup, giving her a sweet smile.

Lup seemed to be fighting not to laugh. "Yeah, sure thing, babe." She winked at him and Taako snorted. "Gotta say, it was impressive seeing you guys work up clo-"

"Watch out!"

Time slowed down. 

Reaper's shout echoed in Taako's ears even louder than the gunshot.

Lup yelled as she was shoved out of the way in a split second, Reaper tackling her to the ground and out of the way of the bullet.  
The two other robbers. Shit. How had they forgotten?

Taako heard a pained groan from Reaper, saw the blood rapidly pooling on the tiles and soaking Lup's clothes.

He saw Barry float across the room, closing the distance between himself and the attackers faster than anyone could react. 

As Barry brought down the shooter, one strong arm wrapped around the other from behind, the other hand reaching for his gun and crushing it between its fingers.

Magnus.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry, I was gonna stop them! I was too slow!"

There were steps sounding behind them, voices talking over each other.

Bane. Hurley. A bunch of other cops rushing to put the robbers into handcuffs and escort the hostages outside.

Taako still felt numb. Lup had almost gotten shot. If it wasn't for Reaper… shit.

He fell to his knees next to the injured man. Lup was already pressing her hands on the wound in his side, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Where's Peacemaker?" Taako asked, but there was only silence from Lucretia.

Lup looked at Reaper with wide eyes. "He saved me… I   
could have died."

"No shit," Taako replied. Fuck, he was shaking at the thought alone.

Reaper looked like he was close to passing out, but he still managed to look at Lup and smile.

"We did it. No one got hurt," he rasped. 

Taako huffed. "You're someone, asshole."

He felt Magnus' warm presence at his side, Barry huddled next to Lup. 

"Sorry," Magnus murmured again and Taako elbowed him. 

"Stop it."

"Yeah, you did everything you could. It's not your fault you weren't fast enough," Lup added helpfully.

Magnus could have caught that shot no problem. His skin was near unbreakable.

Taako knew he wasn't gonna stop blaming himself any time soon, but right now he worried about Reaper more. Julia would deal with his emotional stuff. That wasn't Taako territory.

"I'm here! I'm here, where is he?"

Taako had possibly never been happier to see Merle.  
He moved aside quickly to make room for the healer, and Merle got to work instantly, murmuring a quiet prayer to Pan like he always did when he used his powers.

Taako didn't believe any god had anything to do with what was happening in the world, but it helped Merle and Taako wasn't enough of an asshole to destroy that.

He felt Lup squeeze his shoulder, a gesture that wouldn't give away too much, as they all backed away a little to give Merle some space.

Magnus murmured something about talking to Captain Bane and walked outside, Barry following with Lup, escorting her outside under the guise of helping her walk. 

Taako knew Lup was only half acting at this point. They were all more upset than they were showing openly.

At least Reaper already looked much better. His wound had closed under Merle's gentle hands, and there was a little more color in his cheeks.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Merle said quietly, "We should get him back to our base to patch him up properly." 

"He's not gonna like that," Taako murmured.   
Reaper would definitely not be happy being brought to their base after they'd already established he didn't trust them.   
His identity would be revealed, and Taako knew that he'd be pissed about that if he was in Reaper's place.

But then again, Merle was the medical professional here. More or less.

"He'll have to deal with it," Davenport's voice came from Taako's earpiece. "It's not like we intend to hurt him. We're all more than grateful for what he did today."

Taako looked down at Reaper. He'd finally slipped into unconsciousness while Merle was treating him. Good. 

Maybe they could get him back to the base while he was still out.

Which was a dick move.

"Roger that, Captain," Taako murmured. Davenport would just have to take responsibility if Reaper freaked out. But Davenport had never been one to shift the blame. He was good at what he did, that was why they all agreed to follow him.

"How's the bird guy?" Magnus and Barry had returned.

Barry, obviously exhausted from using his powers so much, walked over to Taako instead of floating. "The paramedics are looking Lup over. She's okay though. Some scrapes and bruises. Nothing worse than a training session with Magnus."

Taako nodded. That could have ended so much worse. 

He saw Barry was thinking about the same thing, and he gently nudged him with his shoulder. "Barold. We won. We're awesome."

Barry snorted. "We kind of are. Reaper was a huge help…"

Taako watched Magnus easily pick up the unconscious man, taking great care not to shift the mask on his face. It was a sweet gesture, even though it wouldn't matter much later. 

"Here." Merle held out a tissue towards Taako. "Your nose is bleeding again."

Taako took it with a mumbled thanks and started cleaning off the blood that had already begun to dry. He hadn't even noticed.

"Overdid it with the transmutation," he said as they followed Magnus outside, past the cops and the paramedics and the families embracing each other, crying.

"You got any pain killers in your pockets?" Barry asked, and of course Merle delivered.

"Such a good mom. Always got everything on hand…" Taako said, taking some pills as Merle offered. 

Barry was probably dealing with a headache way worse than Taako's right now, with the way he'd been switching between corporeal and incoporeal during the fight.

Merle had come in his van, apparently already having considered the possibility of having to bring an injured team member back to base.

Magnus put Reaper down on the bench in the back, and him, Barry and Taako all climbed in with him, while Merle got into the driver's seat.

"Capnport is right, you know?" Magnus said, watching Reaper's motionless face, "He's got nothing to worry about. He's proven he's just as much of a hero as any of us. We're not gonna make him stop or anything."

Taako shook his head. "No. He's got powers, he's different. I just... doubt he'll be thrilled to wake up in a place he never wanted to go to and then be interrogated. 'specially by a fucking mind reader."

Lucretia had been inside all their heads during training, and it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.   
It always left Taako a little dazed and disoriented for the rest of the day, not to mention that he didn't like anyone digging around in his thoughts, not even someone he trusted as much as he trusted her.

And Reaper didn't even know them.

"Sorry, bud," Magnus told Reaper, "We're good people, I swear."

Reaper groaned quietly, and they all tensed.

"Morning!" Taako said, trying to sound reassuring and cheerful. He got the cheerful part down.

Reaper opened his eyes, blinking a couple times before he focused on their faces.

Barry waved awkwardly.

"Gotta say, you did real good out there," Taako told him,   
"Stupid and selfless enough to become best friends with this one." He nodded toward Magnus.

Reaper frowned. "Where am I? What-?"

Taako exchanged a look with the two others.

"You're lucky you're alive!" Merle shouted from the driver's seat, "And you're welcome for the heal!"

Taako rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you did great, arriving five minutes after the action was over."

He knew Merle just chose to ignore the last part and take the compliment.

"Wizard." Reaper's voice was sharp, despite him still not having the energy to sit up fully. Instead he'd propped himself up on his elbows, which seemed to be taking a lot of energy already. "Where is this car going?"

Taako hesitated. "Now don't freak out. You lost a lot of blood back there. We're taking you back to our base, we got medical supplies there."

"Abso-" Reaper had tried to push himself up into a sitting position, but sunk back down after a moment of struggling. "Absolutely not! I told you I wouldn't go!"

Taako raised his hands. "Hey. Captain's orders. 's not like we're gonna pull anything, we just wanna help."

Reaper closed his eyes for a moment. "You do realize you're technically kidnapping an injured man right now? That doesn't exactly put you into a good light, does it?" 

His accent got stronger when he was angry, Taako noted absentmindedly.

"You got a point there," Magnus agreed, "This is kind of a shitty thing to do."

"We could have let you bleed out in the bank though, so I feel like we've earned one shitty action," Taako threw in. "You'd be dead without us."

"Without me!" Merle corrected.

"Yeah, that." Taako watched Reaper try to sit up again, and this time Barry reached out on his other side to gently push him back down.

"At least let us help you. We won't do anything else, we won't even make you take off the mask. Just… calm down. You caught that bullet trying to help, you saved..." Taako made a cutting throat motion and Barry cleared his throat. "An innocent woman. You deserve our help for that. Please."

Reaper stayed silent for a minute. Then he shook his head. "I can't. I'm not- I'm not like you. You won't understand." 

And before anyone could react, he swiped his hand through the air, creating another rift, and, with seemingly all his energy, pulled himself through.

"Fuck," Magnus murmured, staring at the air where Reaper had been two seconds ago. "You weren't kidding about the teleportation."

Taako leaned back and crossed his hands behind his head. "Yeah, no kidding." 

He'd honestly expected this.

But Reaper had saved Lup, and when Taako met Barry's eyes, he knew they were both thinking the same.

They owed this bravely stupid stranger a debt, and letting him leave like this was only the start of paying it back.


End file.
